THE "PORK" IN NEW YORK, Thoughts of an older American on Constitutional Government in the USA Options

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NEWSDAY

AP New York

"The 2007 legislative session wins and misses"

June 21, 2007, 11:03 PM EDT

By all accounts, the 2007 legislative session began with historic progress and closed in one of the most disappointing ends of session Albany has seen.

Here's a scorecard on some of the issues:

DONE

Jan. 16 _ Budget reform. The agreement required secretive "member items" to be disclosed before they are put to a vote by the Legislature.

It also creates a way to agree on revenues quickly, ends the long delays of the past when the governor and legislative leaders were unable to agree and provides far more fiscal data to legislative leaders in November.

Jan. 24 _ Ethics and lobbying reform. The agreement created a far-reaching agency to enforce rules governing lobbyists and employees in the executive branch.

It also bans gifts to lawmakers and quadruples the penalties for violating ethics laws.

Feb. 27 _ Workers Compensation reform.

The long awaited reform will save employers $1 billion over several years by eliminating costly lifetime payments for "permanent partial disabilities."

It was expected to be announced Tuesday, according to a legislative official familiar with the deal.

The reform will also save employers 10 to 15 percent or more in payments for workers' compensation insurance in a measure expected to make New York more inviting to companies.

March 14 _ Civil confinement. Under the law, before a sex offender is released from prison, mental health experts will assess inmates to determine if they pose a risk of committing more sex offenses.

A jury will then decide whether the convict is likely to commit future crimes and a judge will rule on confinement or intensive supervision after release.

April 1 _ Budget. A budget agreement eventually was pegged at $123.6 billion with record increases in school spending, record cuts in health care spending, and a record $1.3 billion in property tax relief.

June 14 _ Wicks Law agreement. It would exempt more than half of public construction projects from a decades-old law that protected unions, but drove up the cost of public projects by as much as 30 percent.

UNDONE

Congestion pricing _ New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg needs Albany's authorization for his plan to charge tolls to reduce traffic and air pollution under a federal pilot program that could bring $500 million to New York.

Campaign finance reform _ Spitzer's proposal would dramatically limit campaign contribution to reduce the influence of money in campaigns and on politics.

Pay raises for judges, lawmakers, and commissioners _ State judges who haven't had a raise since 1999 would get raises already covered in the state budget, and a commission would be created that would lead to the first raises for lawmakers and state commissioners in nearly a decade.

Wicks law reform _ Despite the public agreement June 14, the bill wasn't passed by the Senate.
___

SOURCE: Offices of the governor, Senate majority and Assembly majority.

http://www.newsday.com/news/local/wire/new...egion-apnewyork

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NEWSDAY

"AP New York - Legislature session closes without reform, NYC traffic plan"

By MICHAEL GORMLEY, Associated Press Writer

June 21, 2007, 9:58 PM EDT

ALBANY, N.Y. -- In the closing hours of the 2007 legislative session, lawmakers failed to find agreements on an all-or-nothing deal that would include Manhattan street tolls to cut traffic, a tougher campaign finance law and pay raises for legislators and judges.

In the end, Democratic Gov. Eliot Spitzer and Republican Senate leader Joseph Bruno accused each other of holding hostage issues important to New Yorkers for their own pet priorities, resulting in what each called a disappointing late session.

"I think it's sad for the people of the state that the governor establishes a position that nothing happens unless we have agreement on campaign finance" reform, said Republican Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno.

He blamed Spitzer for what he called one of the worst endings of a legislative session he's seen.

Bruno said Spitzer had an "obsession" with his campaign finance reform proposal and that the governor required the Senate to approve the measure before he would act on any other issues.

Bruno maintains that Spitzer's plan would target the Senate Republicans' donors and prompt them to lose the majority, resulting in a Democrat-controlled state government.

Spitzer said Bruno was beholden to special interests and their campaign donations, and addicted to pork-barrel spending.

He also questioned Bruno's work ethic.

"We will not take our marbles and run from the field," Spitzer said of Bruno and his Republican majority, who promised to end the legislative session Thursday.

"We will do as we have done every day, which is to continue to work."

Spitzer also accused Bruno of refusing to act on a couple dozen issues discussed in public meetings unless the governor approved nearly $500 million in capital projects _ which Spitzer called "pork, dripping with fat."

The governor also said Bruno reneged on a public pledge to reform an old pro-union measure known as the Wicks law, which drives up the cost of public projects by as much as 30 percent.

"Unfortunately, a lot of the major issues remain on the table," said Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, who sided with Spitzer on several major issues.

"We started out the year with a bang but we're going out with a whimper," said Assembly Minority Leader James Tedisco, a Schenectady Republican.

"I don't blame Bruno or Spitzer."

"The Assembly Democrats are the cats who ate the canary."

"They advanced controversial issues such as gay marriage and legalized medical marijuana and debated them for hours while critical issues that affect nearly all New Yorkers like out-of-control property taxes and gas prices, habitual offenders and the Upstate economy received zero attention."

Senate Minority leader Malcolm Smith, a Queens Democrat, said some issues may need more work.

"Why quit now?" Smith asked.

"We were prepared as a conference to go into extra innings and see these issues through to completion, but unfortunately the Republican majority has chosen to cut and run on their responsibilities."

The antagonism Thursday night ended a tumultuous first six months for Spitzer, who was elected with a reputation as a reformer and received a historic share of the vote in November.

After making some major agreements early on to reform the budget process, ethics and lobbying, lawmakers and Spitzer clashed.

The problems arose when governor got the Legislature to agree to help pick a state comptroller.

But when Spitzer's panel of ex-comptrollers failed to include a legislator among its three finalists, the Legislature, led by the Assembly's Democrats, picked one of their own.

Since then, Bruno and Spitzer have feuded, threatening to make the state budget late _ something Spitzer wanted to avoid.

Ultimately Bruno was able to restore part of Spitzer's cuts to hospitals under a health care reform package and Bruno was able to get more funding for school districts represented by Long Island Republican senators.

Thursday's lack of agreement on some major issues may herald a new era in which Spitzer and Bruno said the Legislature will return several times during the year for specific issues.

However, in Albany, issues that are pressing before a deadline can become old news and a low priority once the deadline passes.

Ultimately, Spitzer and legislative leaders couldn't compromise on a state approval of Mayor Michael Bloomberg's plan to use tolls to reduce traffic and pollution in Manhattan.

Albany must give the Bush administration its commitment for the "congestion pricing" plan that will draw about $500 million in federal funds.

Spitzer said the commitment could be made as late as August.

Bruno had sought that agreement on behalf of Bloomberg, a longtime political benefactor of the GOP conference.

No agreement was reached on Spitzer's campaign finance reform measure, which would dramatically limit campaign contributions by special interests and restrict companies' ability to contribute.

"I think the governor has held fast to his commitments that this needs to be real reform," said Barbara Bartoletti of the League of Women Voters.

Good government groups had said this was the best chance for campaign finance reform in decades, because a popular governor was pushing it.

Also dropped, for now, is a bill that would raise judges salaries and create a commission that would likely lead to raises for lawmakers.

Legislators now are paid a base salary of $79,500, but leadership posts and per-diem payments collected by most during session increases their income.

Judges haven't had a raise since 1999 and the state's highest paid judge makes $156,000 a year, less than most of their counterparts in other states and far less than most lawyers in the private sector.

Publicly, the Senate and Assembly sealed agreements on other bills including the nation's first airline passenger's "bill of rights" by a state that would require airlines to provide food, water, clean toilets and fresher air to passengers stuck on tarmacs more than three hours.

Airlines could face fines of $1,000 per passenger for failing to provide the amenities.

The measure follows an eight-hour delay on Valentine's Day at John F. Kennedy International Airport and other incidents including a long delay this week at LaGuardia Airport.

"Quite honestly, it's absurd we have to do a law like this," said Sen. Charles Fuschillo, a Long Island Republican and co-sponsor of the bill.

He said airlines would be required to provide at least a snack, water, ventilated air and working toilets in long delays under the bill.

http://www.newsday.com/news/local/wire/new...egion-apnewyork

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THE NEW YORK SUN

"Spitzer, Bruno Battle Over 'Horrendous' Pork"

By JACOB GERSHMAN, Staff Reporter of the Sun

June 22, 2007

ALBANY — The escalating power struggle between Governor Spitzer and the Republican Senate majority leader, Joseph Bruno, has brought the capital to a standstill that threatens to make the Pataki years seem harmonious in comparison.

The strife culminated last night in a complete breakdown in negotiations on the final day of the legislative session that derailed agreements on a swath of high-profile issues and indefinitely put on hold much of the governor's agenda.

Among the victims of the gridlock were Mayor Bloomberg's congestion pricing plan, the governor's proposal to tighten campaign finance regulations, legislative and judicial pay raises, legislation to expand the state's criminal DNA database, a capital spending plan, an overhaul of a costly construction mandate known as the Wicks Law, and Senate confirmations of three SUNY trustees and the chairmen of the Empire State Development Corporation.

All sides, however, agreed that lawmakers would return in mid-July for an extra session in a bid to resuscitate talks.

Emerging last night after rounds of closed-door talks, Messrs. Spitzer and Bruno angrily pinned the blame for the deadlock on each other.

Mr. Spitzer portrayed the 78-year-old Senate leader as an obstructionist wedded to the status quo.

He said Mr. Bruno refused to sign on to many agreements because the governor wouldn't grant him a discretionary capital package worth almost $500 million that Mr. Spitzer described as "horrendous" pork "dripping with fat."

"This is a session that had enormous potential but has ended with … significant disappointment," Mr. Spitzer said at an evening press conference.

"This session did not fail for a lack of leadership or energy or determination in the executive branch of government, but rather because the state Senate would not embrace the agenda to energize government and the economy."

Mr. Bruno accused the governor, a former two-term state attorney general, of acting as a bullying prosecutor and holding hostage many pieces of legislation in order to pressure him into agreeing to a campaign finance reform package that would scale back political contributions across the board and ban money from limited liability companies.

Mr. Bruno said Mr. Spitzer, who has made no secret of his wish to oust Republicans from power in the Senate for the first time in decades, was motivated by selfish political concerns.

"Campaign finance reform is an obsession for some reason that I'm still trying to understand other than it's intended by its content to make New York State a one-party state," Mr. Bruno said at a separate news conference.

Mr. Bruno, who is battling to preserve his party's two-seat majority in the chamber, said the governor's campaign finance propose would "stifle a member's ability to communicate with the public."

He said: "I think it's sad for the people of this state … that the governor establishes a position that nothing happens unless we get an agreement on campaign finance reform."

"… I don't know about you, in your lives when you get up in the morning, do your children, your significant others ask you, ‘What's the status of campaign finance reform?'"

A high-level Spitzer official said Mr. Bruno was willing to accept a more limited campaign finance package but was overruled by his Republican colleagues.

While each leader pointed to specific disagreements, the collapse of negotiations was the climax of a brewing battle between the two feisty leaders fueled by opposing political strategies.

By walking away with little accomplished, Mr. Bruno is able to undercut Mr. Spitzer's famous campaign pledge to "change everything" in Albany and present the governor as an ineffective leader who is ignoring pocketbook issues such as tax relief.

After agreeing to significant concessions in budget negotiations earlier in the year, a move that lawmakers said made him appear weak-willed, Mr. Spitzer seemed to take a tougher stand this week.

Rather than back down on his pledge to rein in campaign finance rules, Mr. Spitzer hopes to come away with a stronger case for removing Republicans from power to present to voters in next year's legislative elections, political observers say.

Although Mr. Spitzer directed his anger at Mr. Bruno, the Democrat-led Assembly also played a major role in blocking progress on key legislation, including approval for Mr. Bloomberg's controversial anti-traffic plan to charge motorists a fee for driving into much of Manhattan and use the revenue to pay for a slew of mass transit projects.

Lawmakers said the Assembly speaker, Sheldon Silver, refused to agree to set up an expert commission that would review the plan and submit an implementation report to the Legislature by February for approval.

Assembly members, many of whom are critical of the plan, feared the commission would make congestion pricing a fait accompli.

Amid the lack of progress, was a piece of good news for New York City consumers.

Both houses passed legislation to eliminate the city's sales tax on clothing and footwear.

Currently, only items costing less than $110 are exempt from a 4% sales tax.

http://www.nysun.com/article/57085?page_no=1

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THE NEW YORK TIMES

"Spitzer and Legislature Sprint to Finish Line"

By DANNY HAKIM and NICHOLAS CONFESSORE

Published: June 22, 2007

ALBANY, June 21 — Gov. Eliot Spitzer’s first legislative session was coming to a fractious close on Thursday night, as he and top lawmakers failed to reach agreement on a wide range of issues as they rushed to finish business for the summer.

There appeared to be agreement on a small number of measures.

One required suspects indicted on rape charges to take H.I.V. tests.

Another expanded Family Health Plus, a state-financed health insurance program, to businesses, in the hope of covering more New Yorkers.

The Legislature also was expected to pass a bill waiving the sales tax on clothing and footwear in New York City and did pass another significantly expanding a program in the city that gives tax incentives for building affordable housing, though it was not clear where the governor stood on the issues.

The Senate majority leader, Joseph L. Bruno, the state’s top Republican, said Mr. Spitzer, a Democrat, held up talks on a variety of other issues because he wanted the Senate to accept his sweeping proposal to toughen campaign finance laws.

“Nothing else can move unless it gets done their way,” Mr. Bruno said of the administration, asserting that the governor’s proposal would turn New York into a one-party state.

“That one party wasn’t intended to be Republican, in case anybody was wondering,” he said.

But Mr. Spitzer attributed the breakdown in part to the Senate’s demands for money for projects that he said were “dripping fat.”

He pledged that deals would eventually be reached on other issues, “because one of the things people know about me is that I’m dogged.”

“We will not take our marbles and run from the field,” he said.

The sudden collapse of the negotiations came after it had appeared that agreements were close at hand on a number of significant measures.

After lunch, for example, Mr. Spitzer said he expected an agreement to create a commission to study Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg’s contentious plan to charge motorists to enter Manhattan below 86th Street, an idea known as congestion pricing.

The proposal, part of a broad plan by the mayor to improve air quality and ease traffic, has faced particularly strong opposition from Assembly Democrats, who have raised concerns that the plan would increase traffic in some neighborhoods and hurt poor and middle-income drivers in other boroughs.

The legislation would have created a commission to study how revenue from the program would be used, the impact of traffic on communities outside central Manhattan and ways the rules would be enforced.

It would have also required that the commission submit a report by the fall and that the Legislature vote on it by next Feb. 15.

The city would not be allowed to impose the fee until after that vote.

But the Assembly speaker, Sheldon Silver, said there was “no agreement on anything.”

The mayor, he added, “does not want anybody else’s view considered on the entire issue.”

Mr. Bruno and city officials said they were hopeful the plan could still be salvaged, though it seems unlikely that one would come together in time to qualify for as much as $500 million in federal aid.

The Bush administration has said it could grant the money to New York if it puts the plan in place by midsummer.

All three sides — the governor, the Senate and the Assembly — had also been in broad agreement that the state should start collecting and storing DNA from people convicted of all crimes; currently DNA is collected from people convicted of all felonies and a few misdemeanors.

But a deal was scuttled because the sides could not agree on provisions sought by the Democratic-led Assembly, including creating a commission to investigate cases involving DNA exonerations.

Discussions also apparently collapsed on a plan to bolster oversight of the network of public authorities, like the Metropolitan Transportation Authority and the Empire State Development Corporation, that control much of the state’s debt.

On the H.I.V. testing bill, both Mr. Spitzer and the Republican-led Senate supported the measure, but it had been a subject of contentious debate in the Assembly, where opponents raised concerns about civil liberties and creating a false sense of security in victims if there were a false negative test result.

Michael Kink, legislative counsel for Housing Works, the AIDS service and advocacy group, said, “It’s a misguided measure that actually threatens the health of rape survivors in order to score easy political points.”

But Assemblywoman Nettie Mayersohn, a Queens Democrat who sponsored the bill, said, “What I’m trying to do is make people understand that this is not about civil liberties; it’s about public health.”

The Legislature also approved an expansion of New York City’s property tax abatement, known as 421-a, for developers who include subsidized housing in new buildings.

The legislation, supported by Mr. Bloomberg and the City Council, calls for significantly extending the areas of the city in which developers must make one of every five new apartments affordable to lower-income people in order to take part in the 421-a tax incentive program.

Under the current program, only developers in central Manhattan and areas along the Greenpoint-Williamsburg waterfront in Brooklyn were required to earmark such units to receive the incentives.

The bill appeared to be in some peril on Thursday after the Assembly approved a different version, championed by Assemblyman Vito J. Lopez, a Brooklyn Democrat.

His bill added new neighborhoods where developers must build affordable housing to qualify for the break, including some, like Crown Heights, that have not been reached by gentrification.

His bill would require the subsidized apartments to be made available to families at a lower income level than is currently specified by the law, and would require paying prevailing wages to workers employed in the buildings.

But it would offer a significant concession to Forest City Ratner Companies, the developer of the Atlantic Yards project near Downtown Brooklyn.

Forest City Ratner was the development partner in building a new Midtown headquarters for The New York Times Company.

Under current plans, the 16 Atlantic Yards buildings are to include 2,250 subsidized rental apartments among more than 6,000 condominium and rental units.

Several of the buildings contain no subsidized housing at all, but Mr. Lopez’s bill would allow those buildings to qualify for the tax break so long as the overall complex contains 20 percent subsidized housing.

It also would allow Forest City to offer some subsidized apartments to families with higher incomes than would otherwise qualify under the new law.

Together, the changes have drawn concern from some housing advocates and city officials.

But the Senate approved the measure on Thursday night.

“The city contemplated whether it needed to do this and concluded that it did not, that Atlantic Yards should get a tax break for a building that has 20 percent affordable, but that the condo buildings should pay property taxes,” said Brad Lander, director of the Pratt Center for Community Development.

“It achieves no additional affordability at Atlantic Yards but costs the taxpayers $100 million.”

Michael M. Grynbaum contributed reporting.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/22/nyregion...nted=1&_r=1

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NEWSDAY

State/Region

"Spitzer, Bruno play blame game in stalemate"

BY MELISSA MANSFIELD

melissa.mansfield@newsday.com; Albany

June 22, 2007

ALBANY - Last night's legislative session dragged nearer to an end in finger-pointing as leaders were unable, or unwilling, to compromise on key issues.

Though the legislature continued to meet into the night, Gov. Eliot Spitzer and Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno blamed each other for the session's lack of final successes.

Spitzer said Bruno (R-Brunswick) held up agreements on reform of the Wicks law, which governs construction of public projects, and other issues, because he wanted $500 million in "pork" projects.

Bruno said Spitzer tied everything to Spitzer's campaign finance reform plan, which Bruno and his caucus approach differently.

The stalemate left the expansion of the DNA database, healthy food choices in schools and a Manhattan congestion pricing plan awaiting resolution.

The legislative session was scheduled to end yesterday.

"This is a session that had enormous potential but is ending with significant disappointment."

"Disappointment because the State Senate is reflecting once again the desires of the status quo and special interests, failing to embrace the opportunity that was presented to them," Spitzer said.

The governor, a Democrat, was displeased that the Senate was going home before resolution.

Bruno said Spitzer caused the freeze on negotiations.

"The governor is holding up a lot of important things to the people of this state, holding all of this from closing because of campaign finance reform," he said, calling the governor "obsessed" with it.

Sources say that earlier in the afternoon an agreement was reached on congestion pricing, but then campaign finance reform, which could have been seen as a quid pro quo for possible legislative pay raises, torpedoed the deal.

Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver (D-Manhattan) gave an upbeat assessment of the session, pointing to the resolution of longstanding issues such as civil confinement of sexual predators and changes to workers' compensation.

He said the school aid formula was changed to emphasize support for high-needs districts and the growth rate of Medicaid spending was reduced.

"I think it's not a time to talk about blame or recrimination."

"I think this has been a very successful session from the first day that it began, going through the budget, right up to now," Silver said.

He denied that he had agreed to congestion pricing, and criticized Mayor Michael Bloomberg for allegedly not including the City Council in the formulation of the anti-pollution plan.

Others said the talks ebbed and flowed throughout yesterday and Wednesday.

Spitzer met in turns with both leaders.

The governor had vowed there would be no secret three-way meetings, which have been the way deals were struck in the Capitol for generations.

Among the measures adopted was a $300-million increase to the state Environmental Protection Fund, which has been used to preserve open space, combat pollution and promote recycling.

The money is derived from the real-estate transfer tax.

The fund "is the way that we protect the water we drink, the air we breathe and the food we eat," said Sen. Carl Marcellino (R-Syosset), who sponsored the bill with Assemb. Robert Sweeney (D-Lindenhurst).

Lawmakers also adopted a bill from Sen. Frank Padavan (R-Jamaica Estates) and Assemb. Mark Weprin (D-Hollis Hills) allowing homeowners to post signs stating they don't want advertising leaflets left on their property.

Violators would face fines of up to $5,000.

Albany Bureau Chief James T. Madore contributed to this story.

http://www.newsday.com/news/local/state/ny...enews-headlines

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THE NEW YORK POST

"ELIOT A 'LOSER' SINCE 'DAY 1'"

June 25, 2007 -- FRESHMAN Gov. Spitzer was the big loser and veteran legislative leaders the big winners as the disastrously unproductive legislative session came to an end Friday, senior officials agree.

Spitzer, who pledged to "change everything on Day One," looked like the proverbial deer in the headlights after his two most important final initiatives - congestion pricing in New York City and campaign-finance reform - were summarily rejected by Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver (D-Manhattan) and Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno (R-Rensselaer), respectively.

Some insiders saw the loss to Silver on Mayor Bloomberg's congestion-pricing scheme as the more embarrassing, because Spitzer seemed to have turned his new administration into an extension of City Hall.

"Spitzer came away looking like the governor of New York City, carrying Bloomberg's water," said a source close to Silver.

"After all he promised to do for upstate New York and ending gridlock at the Capitol, he wound up sounding like Bloomberg North."

Spitzer vowed during his campaign last year to end Albany's notorious dysfunction - but it appeared at session's end to be as bad as ever.

"This is the most dysfunctional that I've ever seen it, and I've been here a lot of years," observed Capitol lobbyist Lester Shulklapper.

A senior Spitzer aide claimed Bruno initially agreed to back the governor's campaign-finance-reform plan after receiving assurances that billionaire Bloomberg would make up any lost campaign contributions the plan would impose on Senate Republicans.

If true, such an arrangement - which the aide claimed fell apart after other GOP senators rejected it - could violate several anti-bribery sections of the state Penal and Public Officers Laws prohibiting the offer of a financial reward in exchange for a vote, legal experts said.

fredric.dicker@nypost.com

http://www.nypost.com/seven/06252007/news/...c_u__dicker.htm

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THE NEW YORK TIMES

"For Lobbyists, This Campaign Is Personal"

By RAY RIVERA

Published: June 25, 2007

These are hard times for lobbyists, at least when it comes to public perception.

The City Council is moving to limit their campaign contributions.

Some top aides to Gov. Eliot Spitzer are letting it be known that hiring a lobbyist might not help one’s case in Albany.

Even the movies portray them as soulless influence peddlers.

So these days, when some of the most powerful lobbyists in New York City get together in private, they talk about the insults they are hearing and attacks they are feeling from all sides.

Some have suggested banding together to change their image, to spread the word that they are not bad people.

Perhaps even ... hire a lobbyist.

“I think the problem is the public image,” said Sid Davidoff, one of the elders among the lobbying elite.

“If you don’t address it, then you’ll never change it.”

Mr. Davidoff said a small group of lobbyists had been meeting informally for years, usually over breakfast or lunch.

But as discussions between the Bloomberg administration and the City Council heated up over new campaign finance legislation — which, among other measures, would reduce contributions from lobbyists and others who do business with the city — the group began thinking seriously about creating a trade association to speak on its behalf.

The central message: Say what you want about lobbyists, but try running a government without them.

Mr. Davidoff, whose clients have included Donald Trump, McDonald’s and the city’s largest firefighters union, stopped short of saying that the association, if it is formed, would hire a lobbyist.

But for people who prefer to operate behind the scenes, it makes sense, he said, to have a “representative who can do a better job of educating the public, the press and even, when necessary, public officials.”

City Hall and Albany have put the squeeze on lobbyists in the last few years.

The gifts, dinners and endless bar tabs that made lobbyists popular with lawmakers have been curtailed, and Mr. Spitzer has created a panel to look at further changes.

As if their craft had not been tarnished enough by the likes of Jack Abramoff and movies like “Thank You for Smoking” and Michael Moore’s new “Sicko,” lobbyists say that now they have to contend with a City Council proposal that suggests the work they do is underhanded.

The Council will soon vote on legislation that would reduce the amount lobbyists can donate to political campaigns by 90 percent.

“It’s demeaning,” Martin J. McLaughlin, co-founder of Connelly & McLaughlin, one of the city’s top 10 firms by revenue, said of the proposal.

“We’re being singled out like we’re some kind of pariahs.”

Even as the city moved forward on its legislation, lobbyists were irked by a recent item in The Daily News reporting that some top aides in the Spitzer administration were less than enthusiastic about meeting with them.

Anthony E. Shorris, the executive director of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, will not meet with lobbyists at all, said his spokesman, Stephen Sigmund.

Such is life in an industry whose members have grown used to “political cheap shots,” as Norman Adler, president of Bolton-St. Johns, another top 10 firm, put it.

“Very few mothers want their 5-year-old daughters to grow up to be lobbyists, so it’s not like it’s a field that has ever got a lot of respect,” he said, adding, “On the other hand, when people get in trouble with government ....”

Mr. Davidoff said a formal association would make it easier for the industry to react to attacks.

It could also help shape reforms, he said.

Interest seems to be catching on.

About a dozen industry professionals attended a meeting six weeks ago at the Regency Hotel on Park Avenue when the topic was introduced, a meeting first reported by Crain’s Insider.

The number nearly doubled when the group met again three weeks ago at Mr. Davidoff’s offices.

He would not say who attended.

But a who’s who of the city’s most powerful lobbyists, including Suri Kasirer, Claudia Wagner and Mr. McLaughlin, turned out, according to others who attended.

Mr. Adler said he was not sure he would join the proposed lobbyist association.

“I have to take it up with my colleagues and see,” he said.

“But I mean, they’re right, there are things that are being done in legislation and in administrative decisions that are inimical in the lobbying field."

“And lobbyists have their hands tied because, you know, the people who are doing it are the people who we hope to get to listen to us, so you can’t be knocking somebody on Monday and then on Tuesday say, you know, we have a story to tell.”

His point was illustrated recently when the City Council held a hearing on the campaign finance bill.

Several lobbyists attended and others milled outside, but when it came time to tell their side, none testified.

For all of the bad press that lobbyists get, it does not seem to be hurting business.

The city’s lobbyists pulled in $44 million last year, an 18 percent increase over the year before.

Even government watchdog groups say lobbyists play an important role.

Many come into the business after years in government, using their experience and connections to help elected officials understand complex issues and to help private citizens, companies and nonprofit groups cut through red tape.

“If you had a tax issue with the I.R.S., would you go in without a tax specialist?” asked Mr. Davidoff.

“You wouldn’t."

"You’d be walking into a lion’s den."

"It’s the same thing with the city or state government; you reach out for experts.”

The problem comes when money paves the way to access.

Or appears to do so.

“Pay to play is somewhat atmospheric, in the sense that it has an appearance that the public assumes is corrupt,” said Richard D. Emery, a Manhattan election lawyer who sits on a panel advising Mr. Spitzer on government reforms.

“It’s also about the atmosphere of elected officials needing to be available to people who give them campaign contributions, because they’re dependent on those contributions for their political survival, and lobbyists who are dependent on the politician for their business."

"It has sort of a wink and a nod acceptance to the corruptness of it.”

The city’s campaign finance bill, advocates said, would help root out not only undue influence, but the appearance of it.

In that sense, the legislation has something in common with lobbyists: it is dealing with an image problem.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/25/nyregion...amp;oref=slogin

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THE NEW YORK SUN

"Spitzer Plans 'Shaming Tour' Against Bruno - Goal Is a Democratic Senate"

By JACOB GERSHMAN, Staff Reporter of the Sun

June 25, 2007

Governor Spitzer will use last week's meltdown of end-of-session negotiations as the basis for a new assault on the Republican majority in the state Senate and its leader, Joseph Bruno, advisers close to the governor are predicting.

These advisers close to Mr. Spitzer, who is a Democrat, say last week's recriminations between Messrs. Spitzer and Bruno concerning the collapse in talks may be the prelude to a more open and caustic political battle over the fate of the Senate, which has been under Republican control since 1965 and under the leadership of Mr. Bruno since 1994.

In a strategic move that could dominate the second half of his first year in office, Mr. Spitzer is likely to intensify his fund raising and candidate recruitment effort to advance his goal of turning the Senate over to Democrats in 2008, advisers said.

The administration hopes to use the added political pressure on Mr. Bruno and his conference as leverage to force him to cooperate with the administration's agenda, including enacting tighter campaign finance rules.

"The fourth man in the room is the fact that Bruno's majority is under siege," a top adviser to Mr. Spitzer said.

The Republicans now hold 33 seats in the Senate to the Democrats' 29.

The escalation could begin as early as this week.

Mr. Spitzer has plans to visit the local districts of a number of Senate Republicans and make speeches singling out the lawmakers for blame — a "shaming tour" similar to his trips around the state in February, during which he attacked Assembly Democrats for defying him by choosing one of their own members, Thomas DiNapoli, to fill a state comptroller vacancy.

Senate Republicans are hoping that last week's impasse, which sunk deals on a variety of major pieces of legislation, including a campaign finance overhaul, the approval of Mayor Bloomberg's congestion pricing plan, a discretionary capital budget totaling hundreds of millions of dollars, a new power plant siting law, and an overhaul of a costly public construction mandate, would serve as a bitter lesson to the governor about the penalties for threatening their majority.

After closing out the legislative session on Thursday, Mr. Bruno, in a conversation with a handful of reporters lashed out at Mr. Spitzer with some of his harshest language.

"He could have had one of the most productive years any governor ever had in this state in his first year," Mr. Bruno said.

"He elected to go political."

"That's what happened."

"He went totally political."

"Politicized everything."

"Stopped governing and got obsessed with the politics of, I don't know, taking over."

"It's sad."

The 78-year-old leader offered advice to his 48-year-old adversary: "If you're spoiling for a fight you'll get one."

"But as a chief executive, getting into a fight doesn't get you a result."

"That's a transition that this governor hasn't made yet, and I hope he does."

Mr. Spitzer's strategy poses significant risk for a governor who has come under criticism from lawmakers, including members of his own party, for intemperate dealings with the Legislature.

By making a case against the Republicans and for electing Democrats into the Senate, Mr. Spitzer runs the risk of making the bicameral Legislature into a unified force that could counterbalance his own power, even if the broader public interprets his argument as an admirable call for more responsive government.

Many Assembly Democrats say the governor's furious reaction to their selection of Mr. DiNapoli hurt Mr. Spitzer by alienating lawmakers who could have been strong allies pushing for his agenda.

Mr. Spitzer has since sought to repair his relationship by meeting with delegations of Assembly Democrats for a series of casual breakfasts in the governor's mansion.

The Democratic speaker of the Assembly, Sheldon Silver, a low-key politician who for the most part has stayed on the sidelines during the feud between the governor and Mr. Bruno, is urging the two leaders to get along.

"Everybody understands they are partners in government," he said on Thursday night.

"They can't accomplish things without each other, and that's the way it has to work."

For Mr. Spitzer, the advantage that could be gained through a Democratic takeover in the Senate is hard to resist.

The administration hopes that once in power, Senate Democrats, who have been the governor's most loyal base of support in the Legislature, would fast-track legislation that is now blocked by Republicans and give him an edge in negotiations with the Assembly.

Some political observers say, however, that an empowered Democratic conference enjoying the resources of majority status would no longer be as dependent on the governor for fund raising and organizational assistance and therefore would become less accommodating.

In interviews, top Spitzer administration officials said the governor's combative relationship with the Senate hasn't prevented him from chalking up successes in his first six months.

They cite as examples legislation overhauling the workers' compensation system that is expected to raise weekly benefits while saving businesses more than $1 billion in costs once the new rules are implemented; the enshrinement of a new school aid formula that directs more money to lower-income districts; an ethics package that prohibits gifts from lobbyists, and a restructuring of Medicaid so that state dollars flow more directly to patients instead of hospitals.

"It's not the job of the governor to be liked," said Martin Mack, a former mayor of Cortland who worked under Mr. Spitzer for eight years when the latter was attorney general and is now the governor's deputy secretary for intergovernmental affairs.

"He certainly doesn't spend his time deciding what he should or shouldn't do so they'll like him or not like him."

Mr. Mack said the governor was "bringing the same philosophy" to issues like campaign finance laws that he brought to his investigations of Merrill Lynch and other Wall Street firms.

He said the governor is emphasizing the "need to make these structural changes."

"Does it make people unhappy?"

"Yes, it does make people unhappy."

"Those people, more than anything, object to the fundamental structural change, whether it's health care, whether it's education… election reform, or ethics."

A senior Spitzer official on Friday said the implosion of negotiations last week demonstrated the difficulty of working with Mr. Bruno and Republicans, who were resistant to the governor's campaign finance proposal while trying to secure from the governor hundreds of millions of dollars in discretionary capital funds.

"We knew our own mind."

"We knew exactly how far we were willing to go and no further."

"We knew our opponent's mind."

"We knew what it would have taken to get a deal done."

"There's no sense this morning of buyer's remorse," the official said.

"They thought we would be willing to … give away the store when it came to spending."

"In return for that, we would get something that wouldn't be meaningful campaign finance reform."

Said the official: "They will come around on at least some of the issues."

"They won't like the perception that they have blocked progress."

"It requires at some level a willing partner."

http://www.nysun.com/article/57201?page_no=1

[Livyjr]

"Power Authority official admits theft"

By ROBERT GAVIN, Staff writer, Albany, New York Times Union

Last updated: 12:01 p.m., Monday, June 25, 2007

ALBANY - The New York Power Authority's deputy counsel resigned today after admitting he stole more than $21,000 in benefits by claiming his ex-wife on his health insurance policy after their divorce.

Carmine J. Clemente, 64, of Albany, who had been at the authority for more than 10 years, pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor under a plea agreement that will spare him any time in prison.

He must pay more than $34,000 in fines and restitution and can never work for the state again under the agreement, according to state Attorney General Andrew Cuomo's office, which handled the case with state Inspector General's office.

From March 2000 to last December, Clemente had claimed he was married to Hermina H. Clemente, making her eligible for health insurance and other benefits from the Power Authority and Capital District Physicians Health Plan, but officials said Clemente and his wife divorced March 15, 2000, disqualifying her for the benefits.

The benefits are granted under a CDPHP program called "FlexAbility,'' in which employees get a yearly fixed credit amount depending on the size of their family.

The benefits which cover health, dental coverage and eye care are "substantially greater'' than a single person's provider would be, officials said.

By listing his ex-wife, officials say Clemente got more benefits than entitled.

Clemente declined to comment when swarmed by reporters outside City Court, where he pleaded guilty to second-degree scheming to defraud.

Had he gone to trial, he faced insurance fraud charges that could have carried up to four years in prison.

His attorney, James Long, said Clemente only realized the problem when he took his ex-wife to CDPHP to get benefits for a surgery for her and learned she was no longer on his policy.

"Nobody approached us and said, `You made a mistake,''' Long said, noting his client was never approached to resolve the matter civilly.

Long called it "getting out of control'' to consider the crime a public integrity issue.

"People make mistakes,'' Long said.

Clemente, who remarried in 2003, agreed to pay 13,046.83 to the state, $8,430 to CDPHP and a $13,000 fine, officials said.

[Livyjr]

"Region's home sales slowing - Closings dropped 16 percent in May as hot market cooled off"

By CHRIS CHURCHILL, Business writer, Albany, New York Times Union

First published: Tuesday, June 26, 2007

More evidence of a slackening real estate market came Monday, both locally and nationally.

The Greater Capital Association of Realtors Inc. said closings on single-family homes in the Capital Region dropped 16 percent in May when compared with the same month one year ago.

Meanwhile, the National Association of Realtors said sales of existing single-family homes and condominiums dropped in May by 0.3 percent to 5.99 million units, the slowest sales pace since June 2003.

Taken together, the numbers confirm what real estate agents and brokers have been saying for months: The red-hot real estate market of recent years is done and gone.

But in the Capital Region at least, the value of homes is not dropping.

Colonie-based GCAR said the median price for homes sold in May was $191,000, compared to $185,000 a year ago.

The association's numbers reflect sales in an 11-county region.

Yet the drop-off in closed sales was steep in all but one of the Capital Region's four core counties: Sales fell 19 percent in Rensselaer County, 17 percent in Saratoga County and 16 percent in Schenectady County.

Albany County, meanwhile, saw a 6 percent drop.

Realtors cautioned against overreaction.

James Ader, GCAR chief executive, said the May numbers were being judged against years of record sales.

And Kevin Clancy of Clancy Real Estate in Altamont described the Capital Region market as very active, adding that homes priced below $250,000 can still sell quickly.

"It's just back to a normal market," Clancy said.

"There are still a lot of buyers out there."

Overall this year, closed sales in the Capital Region are down 7 percent compared to 2006.

And the 3,394 sales that closed through the end of May represent the slowest pace since 2004, when 3,375 homes were sold in the five-month period.

The median sales price, meanwhile, is up 2 percent for the year, to $188,000.

That increase contrasts with the national picture.

The National Association of Realtors said the median sales price in May was $223,700, down 2.1 percent from a year ago.

It was the 10th month in a row that prices declined, said NAR, the longest such stretch on record.

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"Rensselaer GOP sees continued strength"

Albany, New York Times Union

First published: Friday, June 22, 2007

Finding Republican redoubts after the Democrats tightened their grip on state government last year is becoming challenging.

The GOP remains a force in Rensselaer County preparing for local elections, worried what cash and influence might be coming out of Albany now that Gov. Eliot Spitzer is on the second floor at the Capitol.

On June 28, state Chairman Joseph Mondello will be in Troy to rally the troops at a $75-a-head fund-raiser at the Franklin Plaza.

Mondello hails from Nassau County, which is famous for its Republican machine, although it has not been enjoying a good run on Long Island.

Rensselaer County GOP Chairman Jack Casey is promising good things despite the "onslaught of Democratic liberalism" in both the upcoming 2007 local elections and the 2008 presidential year.

Casey wants everyone to know whose turf Rensselaer County is.

"Under the leadership of Senator Joseph L. Bruno, Rensselaer County remains a Republican stronghold," Casey said, "and we will turn out in force to welcome our state chair as he shares his vision for the future and recognizes the value of grass roots organization."

Committee Democrat upset

Over on the other side of the aisle, Tom Wade, who became the sole chairman of the Rensselaer County Democratic Committee last year, promised at the time to shake things up and make changes.

Archie Robinson, the former Democratic voting machine custodian, isn't happy with Wade.

Robinson supported former co-Chairman M. Lynne Mahoney's losing run at the chairmanship.

Robinson is upset by what he claims is Wade's attempt to force contributions from him and other Democrats in county patronage jobs.

The Democrats have just seven patronage positions in the Republican-dominated county government.

"I always give my share for everything."

"I don't like to be told to give," Robinson said.

Wade said he never told Robinson to donate.

"For generations, political patronage has been used to raise money."

"Democrats who hold patronage positions have always been expected to contribute," said Wade.

"The only letter I sent out was to our mailing list, a thousand people," he said.

Kenneth C. Crowe II and Leigh Hornbeck contributed to this week's column.

[Livyjr]

"Warren County prosecutor fired - Assistant DA is second in region this week to lose job after DWI charge"

By LEIGH HORNBECK, Staff writer, Albany, New York Times Union

First published: Wednesday, June 20, 2007

QUEENSBURY -- A Warren County prosecutor has been fired after being charged with drunken driving over the weekend.

Assistant District Attorney Jeffrey L. Ferguson, 53, allegedly had a blood alcohol level of 0.22 percent -- almost three times the legal limit of 0.08 -- when he was pulled over on Route 40 in Hartford, Washington County, by a state trooper.

"Mr. Ferguson and I have spoken, and we mutually agreed he can no longer work in this office," said Warren County District Attorney Kate Hogan, who dismissed Ferguson on Monday.

Ferguson is the second area prosecutor to be fired after being charged with driving while intoxicated over the weekend.

Albany County prosecutor Joseph Meany was arrested early Saturday after police say he crashed into two parked cars and registered a blood-alcohol level of 0.24 percent.

District Attorney David Soares fired him Monday.

Ferguson worked for Hogan for two years.

Because of his accrued leave time, his last day with Warren County technically won't be until mid-July, but he is no longer working as a prosecutor.

"He was a very good attorney, and I appreciate what he's done for this office," Hogan said.

According to State Police Sgt. Daniel Symer, a trooper stopped Ferguson because he was driving erratically just before 10 p.m.

In addition to being charged with DWI, Ferguson was also charged with failure to keep right and failure to have his car inspected.

Ferguson's lawyer, Peter Gerstenzang, declined comment.

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"12 staffers laid off at the Daily Gazette - Newspaper cites difficult business conditions for need to eliminate jobs"

By DAVID FILKINS, Staff writer, Albany, New York Times Union

First published: Friday, June 22, 2007

SCHENECTADY -- Twelve employees were laid off by The Daily Gazette Thursday because of what General Manager Dan Beck called difficult business conditions.

The laid-off employees worked in various departments, including editorial, advertising, circulation and production.

Longtime newsroom employees let go included basketball writer Steve Amedio, Albany municipal reporter Mary Martialay and photographer Hans Pennink.

"It's a difficult time in the economy," Beck said.

"This is unfortunate and difficult."

"At the same time we're proud of our 100-year history in serving the public and will continue to do so."

The independently owned newspaper debuted in 1894 and covers Schenectady, Albany, Rensselaer, Saratoga, Fulton, Schoharie and Montgomery counties.

Like many newspapers throughout the country, the Gazette has seen its circulation drop over the last two decades.

An Audit Bureau of Circulations report released earlier this year listed daily circulation at 48,585 and Sunday circulation at 48,593, down more than 20 percent from 1991, when 20 employees were released because of what management called revenue problems.

Amedio, the Siena College basketball beat writer, said he wasn't too surprised at the announcement considering industry trends.

"I've seen the sports staff gutted since I came here in 1990," he said.

"We've lost six or seven full-time guys in that time ...."

"Sure, I'm upset I lost my job, but I've been treated well."

"I'm 54 years old and have some money socked away."

"I'll be fine."

Employees were given four weeks' severance pay.

Beck said vacated positions won't necessarily be filled and that a plan has been devised to either change how certain beats are covered or to spread work among remaining employees.

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"Bank's deal with WGY raises concerns - Media experts claim studio sponsorship has potential to create a conflict of interest"

By CHRIS CHURCHILL, Business writer, Albany, New York Times Union

First published: Thursday, June 21, 2007

At WGY (810 AM), the declaration comes at the top of every hour: "Your news. Your talk. From the Capital Communications Federal Credit Union studios."

The announcements, which began earlier this month, result from an agreement between the credit union and the radio station.

For one year, Capital Communications owns the naming rights to the station's studios.

"We thought it was somewhat unique," said Judy Vopelak, marketing director at CapCom, as the Colonie-based credit union is known.

"And in marketing, you always have to find ways for your name to stand out and have it mentioned when people don't expect it."

But to some, the arrangement suggests a problematic blurring of the traditional divide between news and advertising.

Most news outlets depend on advertising for revenue.

And some media organizations have business arrangements with institutions they might report on.

The New York Times Co., for example, owns a share of the Boston Red Sox.

And the Times Union purchased naming rights for 10 years to Albany's downtown sports and entertainment arena.

But observers say it's rare for news organizations to have advertisers sponsor the physical space where news is produced.

"There's an immediate question of a conflict of interest," said William Rainbolt, director of the journalism program at the University at Albany.

"What is going to happen if WGY has to report a hard news story about CapCom?"

Vopelak, though, said the credit union is paying only for exposure.

"We're sponsoring the studio, not the newscast," she said.

"We have no intention of trying to influence what they do from a news standpoint."

WGY is owned by media giant Clear Channel Communications Inc. of San Antonio, the country's largest radio station owner.

Clear Channel stations throughout the nation often sell naming rights to their studios.

The practice earned the company a rebuke in 2005 from the Society of Professional Journalists, a trade group that urged Clear Channel to stop.

"The only thing a news organization has is its credibility," David Carlson, then the society's president, said in a written statement.

"Does it sound credible to introduce a news report with, 'Here's Jennifer Miller from the Battz Beer News Center?'"

Clear Channel's national headquarters did not return a request for comment.

Phone calls to Kristen Delaney, manager of Clear Channel stations in the Capital Region, also were not returned.

As newspapers and other news organizations search for additional revenue streams in the face of declines in advertising and classifieds, Clear Channel may be leading a trend.

The Philadelphia Inquirer, for example, said in April that Citizens Bank would sponsor one of its business columns.

The column runs beneath the bank's name and green logo and within a green box.

Bob Steele, a media ethics expert at the Poynter Institute in St. Petersburg, Fla., finds such practices troubling.

"When you have the intersection of journalistic values and business values, there's the potential that journalism can be pushed aside," he said.

"I imagine it could become dicey when journalists at that station (WGY) are reporting on issues related to the financial industry, particularly in a state capital, where there could be legislation that focuses on banking issues."

At WGY, the mention of CapCom typically is followed by national headlines supplied by Fox News Radio, then Capital Region news and weather.

WGY, offering news since 1922, is one of New York's oldest radio stations.

Vopelak said that legacy appealed to the credit union.

"It's a news-and-information station, and we felt comfortable being aligned with that," she said.

Churchill can be reached at 454-5442 or by e-mail at cchurchill@timesunion.com.

[Livyjr]

"AMD may use partner on fab - Citigroup says company might join with another firm to build or own Luther Forest plant"

By LARRY RULISON, Business writer, Albany, New York Times Union

First published: Wednesday, June 20, 2007

A new report by analysts at Citigroup says Advanced Micro Devices Inc. could be looking to partner with another company on its $3.2 billion computer chip factory planned for Saratoga County -- and AMD isn't ruling it out as a possibility.

New York state has extended $1.2 billion in grants and tax breaks to AMD in an effort to persuade the company to build the state-of-the-art plant at the Luther Forest Technology Campus in Malta.

But neither AMD nor the state has until now ever suggested the company would bring in a second firm to help build or own the facility, which would employ 1,200 people.

AMD, which is based in Sunnyvale, Calif., has until July 2009 to decide whether it wants to accept the state's offer and build the plant, also known as a chip fab.

"This is all very speculative," said A.J. Carter, a spokesman for Empire State Development Corp., the state's economic development arm, which negotiated the AMD deal.

"AMD has not talked to us about any possible change in their plan."

"While it is apparently not uncommon in the industry for companies such as AMD to seek partners, our response would depend on the particulars," he added.

"Right now, we have nothing to react to."

"We don't comment on speculation."

Under pressure from rival Intel Corp., AMD lost more than $600 million during the first quarter and has set out to cut costs through a new "asset-light" business model that will result in more outsourcing.

Although AMD hasn't revealed what this new model will entail, analysts have been speculating the company could move closer to a so-called fabless business model, in which manufacturing is outsourced to third parties called foundries.

On Monday, Citigroup analysts Glen Yeung and Craig Ellis wrote that they are anticipating a "transformational move" from AMD that could result in its selling one of its two fabs in Dresden, Germany, and seeking a partner to build what's being called Fab 4X at Luther Forest.

"We suspect a partnership arrangement may ultimately result for the as-yet-to-be-built New York facility," the two wrote.

"Our understanding is that there are no restrictions on ownership to maintain all grants and subsidies."

AMD spokesman Travis Bullard said Tuesday the Citigroup report is only speculation.

"It's an educated guess," he said.

"That's what they do."

"That's what they get paid for."

"Nothing's changed in terms of Fab 4X."

Bullard said the asset-light strategy is still being worked on, especially as the company continues to integrate ATI Technologies Inc., a Canadian graphics-chip company acquired for $5.4 billion in October.

ATI used a fabless model, while AMD has historically made all of its own chips -- although it has started to use foundries in some cases.

But Bullard said AMD is looking at the possibility of increasing the number of processors made by foundries and partnering with other companies on manufacturing.

That could even result in a partner being used at Luther Forest.

"It's certainly in the realm of possibilities," he said.

"I can't say that it's not an option."

AMD has a history of partnering with others.

It's doing research and development with IBM Corp., and just last month announced a manufacturing partnership with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., a foundry in Taiwan.

Ken Green, president of the Saratoga Economic Development Corp., the nonprofit that is developing the Luther Forest site, did not return a phone call and e-mail seeking comment.

A spokesman for state Senate Majority Leader Joseph L. Bruno, who helped draw AMD, said the company has not informed the senator of any changes.

"The plan continues to move forward," spokesman Kris Thompson said.

"We are in frequent communication with AMD, and there is absolutely nothing new to report."

Larry Rulison can be reached at 454-5504 or by e-mail at lrulison@timesunion.com.

[Livyjr]

THE NEW YORK SUN

"Legal Challenge Brews Against Law on Lobbyists"

By ELIOT BROWN

Special to the Sun

June 26, 2007

A major overhaul of the city's campaign finance system could face a legal roadblock, as a powerful local lobbyist said he is preparing a lawsuit challenging the legislation for violating the free speech rights of lobbyists and city contractors.

If successful, the suit could curtail or topple the changes championed by Mayor Bloomberg and the City Council speaker, Christine Quinn.

The bill would limit lobbyists and those who receive city contracts to campaign contributions of no more than $400, while other donors could give up to $4,950 and also have their contributions matched with up to $1,050 in taxpayer funds.

The legislation passed a council committee last week by a 6–1 vote, and it is expected to pass the full City Council tomorrow.

While the bill's supporters say it will decrease the influence of money in politics, the lobbyist spearheading the legal challenge, Sidney Davidoff, said the regulation would unfairly single out and impose rules on a large group of lobbyists and contractors.

"We have a tremendous group of people who can't participate like their neighbors can," Mr. Davidoff, who plans to file the suit after the bill is passed to become a law, said.

"That is a second class citizenship — it is an interference of their rights to participate in the electoral process."

Supporters of the bill are brushing off the possibility of the bill being struck down in court, arguing that the restrictions placed on lobbyists and contractors are within the boundaries of the law.

"If we had excluded them entirely from being able to contribute, that would have been a bigger issue, but we put a cap on it," the chairman of the City Council Governmental Operations Committee, Simcha Felder, said.

The Supreme Court last year struck down a Vermont law imposing a $400 limit on contributions to candidates for state office in the Green Mountain State.

The Bloomberg administration, which would be the target of any legal challenge, examined judicial precedent and is confident the bill is constitutional, an attorney with the city's law department, Jeffery Friedlander, said in a statement.

Support for the bill has been strong within the Council, and many top lobbyists who privately oppose the restrictions say they're keeping quiet for now, letting Mr. Davidoff take the lead in publicly challenging the elected officials with whom they so often work.

One of the few outspoken opponents of the legislation in City Hall, Council Member Vincent Ignizio, predicts the legal challenge will prevail, as the bill allows "for one person's voice to be louder than another."

"It limits that person's voice, and that, on its face, I don't believe is just, and I don't believe it's constitutional," Mr. Ignizio said.

Campaign finance authorities say the state of the law on the issue is blurry.

"The classic campaign finance jurisprudence may be a bit up the air," a campaign finance lawyer with Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom in Washington, D.C., Lawrence Noble, said.

Generally, donation bans on certain groups have been upheld in the past, Mr. Noble said, so long as the government that created the law can demonstrate a need, often by demonstrating a risk of corruption.

"The courts have said that you can have contributions prohibitions if you have a compelling governmental interest," he said.

In addition to restricting donations from lobbyists and city contractors, the proposed campaign finance overhaul changes the formula for matching public funds, putting a greater emphasis on smaller donations.

It also bans contributions from limited liability companies, but not from labor unions.

If passed by the City Council, the new rules created by the legislation would go into effect for the 2009 citywide elections, though a lawsuit could potentially put a hold on the start date.

Mr. Davidoff said he wasn't yet sure whether his suit would be filed in federal or state court.

http://www.nysun.com/article/57276?page_no=1

[Livyjr]

THE NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

"'It's a war' over election reform - Spitzer vows he'll get stalled bills past Bruno, other GOP lawmakers"

BY JOE MAHONEY and ADAM LISBERG, DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITERS

Tuesday, June 26th 2007, 4:00 AM

Gov. Spitzer bragged yesterday he's well on his way to fixing Albany and predicted he will win his battle to force Senate GOP boss Joe Bruno to pass stalled bills.

"I'm more than satisfied," Spitzer told the Daily News Editorial Board as he neared six months as governor.

"And it's a war."

"People know me."

"They will never see me leave the field of battle without a lot of scars on me and the other side."

Spitzer ripped Bruno (R-Rensselaer) for sending senators home for vacation last week instead of passing a bundle of important bills.

He said Bruno is blocking campaign finance reforms.

"He's worried that if we change the rules, he won't be able to hold onto his majority," Spitzer said.

"Joe Bruno's statement to me is, 'We need that money.'"

"That was when they walked out."

"That was a direct quote: 'We need that money.'"

But Bruno's camp said the governor is the one holding up legislation by insisting on his own version of campaign finance reform - making him to blame for Albany gridlock.

"He sacrificed this entire session to this one issue," said Bruno spokesman John McArdle.

"It's unfortunate that nothing else is going to get done as he pursues this one issue."

The freshman governor blew into Albany this year with a brash promise to change the way Albany does business, but quickly found himself butting heads with Bruno and Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver (D-Manhattan).

Many bills on Spitzer's reform agenda are bottled up in the Senate, even though legislators have agreed on most of the underlying issues, he said.

That means public contract reforms, childhood obesity measures and vital health insurance changes are being held hostage to politics, he said, so he plans to denounce senators who won't move those bills to a vote.

"I'm going to go around the state saying to the members, to the public, 'Ask your senators to come back and vote,'" Spitzer said.

Still, Spitzer said he has already changed the tone of Albany, pushing the government and the Legislature toward greater openness.

And he took credit for laws like civil confinement for sex offenders and a much-needed revision of the workers' compensation system, as well as for settling a long-running education suit and clearing the way to rebuild Ground Zero.

Spitzer sounded like the tough-talking prosecutor he once was when he said there will be no deal on legislative pay raises unless his reform agenda is passed.

"Legislative pay - we'll get to if and when they show they've reformed Albany," he said.

"I'm confident that in the short, medium and long term, I will win those battles."

jmahoney@nydailynews.com

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/2007/06/26...ion_reform.html

[Livyjr]

THE NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

"Back on the warpath - Feisty Spitzer pins blame for Albany breakdown on Bruno - and that's exactly where it belongs"

Tuesday, June 26th 2007, 4:00 AM

Now that the dust has settled on Albany's end-of-session collapse, it's obvious who's to blame for blowing things up: Senate Majority Leader Joe Bruno.

He tries to point the finger at Gov. Spitzer, but Bruno's the one standing there like Wile E. Coyote, with half his fur singed off and a receipt from the Acme Explosives Co. in his back pocket.

Spitzer spent months pushing the Legislature to the brink of agreement on a bunch of worthwhile bills.

Among other things, he wanted to clean up pollution at abandoned buildings, speed construction of power plants, collect DNA from all convicted criminals and grant paid leave to workers spending time with newborns or sick family members.

And Bruno torpedoed it all.

Why?

Because he fears his dwindling GOP majority could not survive without unlimited special-interest cash and bottomless pork-barrel spending.

As Spitzer revealed to the Daily News Editorial Board yesterday, Bruno was blunt about why he wouldn't go along with closing a loophole that lets some companies make unlimited, untraceable donations to Albany power brokers and other much-needed campaign finance reforms.

"Joe Bruno's statement to me was, 'We need that money,'" Spitzer said.

"That was a direct quote."

Spitzer said last-minute talks with the Legislature broke down late last Thursday afternoon, after he had crafted what he hoped would be a grand compromise on campaign finance, congestion pricing and pay raises for lawmakers, judges and other state officials.

The governor said he reached a tentative agreement with Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, then pitched the deal to Bruno.

"I said, 'Here's where we are,'" Spitzer recalled.

"He said, 'Let me go off and talk to my conference.'"

"... The idea was that he would leave for five minutes, think about it, come back, negotiate these things and we'd get an enormous amount done."

Instead, Bruno called a press conference to accuse Spitzer of holding all issues hostage to campaign finance reform - and announce that the Senate was going home.

Although the big compromise had fallen apart, Spitzer said he still prodded Bruno to pass bills on other issues where the parties were near agreement - like family leave and DNA.

But Bruno wanted Spitzer to go along with hundreds of millions of dollars in so-called "capital spending," primarily pork-barrel money that senators could hand out for pet projects in their home districts.

When Spitzer balked, Bruno took his marbles and went home.

Faced with this stonewalling, Spitzer is doing the only thing he can: appealing to the people.

He's going to travel the state, cluing voters in on just how poorly some senators have been representing them in Albany.

Bruno's spokesman, John McArdle, heatedly disputes Spitzer's version of events - saying there could have been no mistake about Bruno's position on campaign finance.

Bruno "told him flatout, point-blank: 'I am not doing your plan period - nohow, no way,'" McArdle said.

Regardless of who said what to whom, here's the bottom line: Bruno and the Senate GOP are just two seats away from losing their majority.

They've managed to hang on this long only because they ruthlessly gerrymander districts, shower their voters with pork and go into every election with a massive money advantage over the Democrats.

So they view even modest campaign-finance reforms as a mortal threat.

Thankfully, Spitzer shows no sign of giving up.

"It's a war," he said yesterday.

"People know me."

"They will never see me leave the battlefield without a lot of scars on me and on the other side - and without having spent every ounce of energy."

"And that's what we're going to do."

whammond@nydailynews.com

http://www.nydailynews.com/opinions/2007/0...he_warpath.html

[Livyjr]

"State takes look at judge - Claims against Albany County Surrogate Cathryn Doyle appear to stem from case of state Supreme Court justice accused of shaking down lawyers"

By MICHELE MORGAN BOLTON, Staff writer, Albany, New York Times Union

First published: Friday, August 12, 2005

ALBANY -- The state Commission on Judicial Conduct is investigating Albany County Surrogate's Court Judge Cathryn Doyle, according to a lawyer who has been subpoenaed to testify in the secret probe.

Although specifics of the allegations against Doyle are unclear, the charges apparently arose from an ongoing proceeding the commission is conducting against state Supreme Court Justice Thomas Spargo.

Spargo, the former Berne town justice, is accused of shaking down a number of Ulster County attorneys with cases pending before him to contribute $10,000 each to his defense fund.

The commission has been looking into five other claims that accuse Spargo, an outspoken Republican jurist, of violating the state judicial code of conduct both on the bench and while campaigning for it in 1999 and 2001.

Doyle, a Democrat, was named in previous court papers as having attended at least one luncheon in 2003 where Spargo is accused of trying to hit the lawyers up for money.

Court papers have described Doyle as a "close, personal friend" of Spargo.

Doyle, who is president-elect of the Albany County Bar Association, was elected to the bench that handles adoptions, wills and probate in 2001, after serving for two decades as chief clerk to former Albany County Surrogate Raymond A. Marinelli.

She is paid $119,800 annually.

Doyle's lawyer, William Cade, declined to comment about whether she is under investigation by the state watchdog panel.

Robert Tembeckjian, who is chief counsel for the state commission, had no comment on the proceedings, which are confidential.

E. Stewart Jones, who now represents Spargo -- didn't return a call for comment.

Jones willingly contributed $10,000 to Spargo's fund during the time he was represented by Albany lawyer David Kunz.

Spargo has denied knowing that the defense fund had been set up for him.

New Paltz attorney Bruce Blatchly confirmed Wednesday he testified in the Spargo matter last week as the commission presented its case.

He declined to discuss what he told the commission, which can admonish, censure or even remove Spargo from the bench if it determines his actions were unethical.

Blatchly, a Republican who also is a town justice in Gardiner, said he received a subpoena to appear this Monday in the case involving Doyle.

He declined further comment.

Previously, Blatchly contended in court papers that Spargo personally pressured him for cash in three separate incidents in late fall 2003.

Blatchly said that during one of those incidents, on Dec. 19, he was meeting with Spargo when the judge dropped an offhand comment about how Doyle had been reassigned to handle his pending divorce case.

Blatchly later described the comment as a not-so-subtle incentive to cut a large check.

Court papers filed by the judicial commission allege that Spargo hit up lawyers in his Ulster County chambers or at La Canard, a Kingston restaurant, during two months of strong-arm fund raising in 2003.

On at least one occasion, Spargo was accompanied by Doyle, who also allegedly recommended attorney George A. Cushing as one of two trustees for the defense fund.

The other is Brian P. Sanvidge, court papers said, who is inspector general of the state Labor Department and a friend of Spargo's.

Blatchly indicated in court papers that he'd settled a $3 million personal injury case before Spargo a few months before and the judge knew he had the funds available.

He said he took the push to be "a message" that he had better fork over the money.

But he didn't.

Spargo was elected to a 14-year term in 2001 with a salary of $136,700.

Other allegations he faces include paying off political operatives to cross-endorse him in the 2001 race for the state Supreme Court, and trying to bribe voters with food, gasoline and coupons in a campaign for Berne town justice.

He also was a prominent force behind a raucous Republican demonstration in the 2000 Florida presidential election recount, in which he also participated.

Spargo claims the allegations against him violate his constitutional rights, including free speech, and he has denied any knowledge of the defense fund or its operation.

He took his case all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court, culminating a three-year battle in both state and federal courts, but the high court refused to hear it.

Spargo says he shouldn't be treated differently than anyone who runs for elected office in other branches of government.

"Doyle planning return to state court bench - Judge had lost temporary assignment for being censured"

By ROBERT GAVIN, Staff writer, Albany, New York Times Union

Last updated: 2:08 p.m., Tuesday, June 26, 2007

ALBANY -- Albany County Surrogate Cathryn M. Doyle is planning a return to state Supreme Court -- less than two months after she lost her temporary assignment on that bench for being censured.

"We all make mistakes," said Doyle, 54, of Slingerlands, after she announced her campaign outside the Albany County Courthouse Tuesday.

"I have a clear conscious with what I did."

Doyle was censured earlier this year after the state Commission on Judicial Conduct found she gave "evasive and deceptive" testimony during its investigation into a trust fund intended to help former state Supreme Court Thomas Spargo, who was ousted from the bench last year.

Jonathan Lippman, the state's chief administrative judge, signed an order on May 4 to end Doyle's temporary role as a full-time acting Supreme Court justice.

A 2005 rule, announced by Lippman, makes judges who have been publicly admonished or censured ineligible for temporary work on the Supreme Court bench for two years.

On Tuesday, Doyle noted that many judges have been censured and admonished and argued she did not intentionally mislead anyone.

"I got censured for not willingly throwing someone under the bus," she said, referring to Spargo.

The ex-judge was removed from duty after the commission ruled he had pressured lawyers who appeared before him to donate $10,000 each to help him pay legal costs incurred in fighting the commission charges.

Doyle was elected County Surrogate in November 2000 and had become an acting Supreme Court justice in 2003.

With three Supreme Court seats up for election this year in the 3rd Judicial District, Doyle said one should go to a woman.

And while not pointing a finger at anyone specifically, she said a Supreme Court judge "needs to respect people ... to respect the people who appear before the court."

Qualifications, not political connections, should dictate who sits on the bench, she said.

"I also believe that the time when the 'good old boys' decide in backrooms who gets to be a judge should finally come to an end, despite the efforts by a few to keep that practice alive," she told reporters.

If elected, Doyle, the president of the Albany County Bar Association, would sit on cases covering Albany, Rensselaer, Columbia, Schoharie, Ulster and Sullivan counties.

[Livyjr]

"Spitzer: Focus on NYC infrastructure despite 'vacationing' Senate"

By MICHAEL GORMLEY, Associated Press

Last updated: 2:53 p.m., Tuesday, June 26, 2007

BOLTON LANDING, N.Y. -- Gov. Eliot Spitzer said Tuesday he is turning more of his focus to improving air travel and the subways in New York City, which he promised will remain the world's financial capital despite challenges from London and elsewhere.

After admitting that some of his top legislative goals "fell apart" last week in a fight with the Senate's Republican majority, Spitzer said he'll spend the balance of his first year in office pursuing his vision for the city through the executive branch.

"We are excited beyond words to get back to work," Spitzer said shortly after a meeting with top staff.

"The role of being governor?"

"One small piece of it is dealing with the Legislature."

"The much larger, more important piece is to run the agencies."

"And that's what we're doing."

But the Democratic governor didn't miss the chance to tell the annual meeting of the New York State Broadcasters Association that the Republican-led Senate is to blame for the legislative stalemate.

The Senate adjourned the regular session as scheduled on Thursday with many major bills unfinished, but promised to return when compromises are reached with Spitzer and the Democrat-led Assembly.

"The Senate did have time to vote itself a pay raise ... then leave on June 21 without doing the people's business," Spitzer said.

He said he will go to Republican senators' districts and play "Where's Waldo?" by asking voters, "Where's your senator?'" and imploring them to tell their legislators to "bet back to work, earn your keep, earn your pay."

The issues include approval of a New York City traffic toll system to reduce pollution, campaign finance reform opposed by Senate Republicans, and a capital budget worth as much as $1 billion for construction projects statewide.

Spitzer said he doesn't want to appear punitive by calling the Legislature into session -- "results are what matter" -- but he wouldn't preclude calling the Legislature back weekly if necessary.

"The reality is that Gov. Spitzer has failed to deliver on his promises," said Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno in a prepared statement.

"While he's in Warren County, instead of delivering political attack speeches, he should be talking to North Country businesses about delivering the help they need to create more jobs."

"Instead of focusing on kids games and political attacks, he should be dealing with the real issues that matter to New Yorkers, property taxes, jobs and the economy and public safety," Bruno said.

"Where's Eliot?"

"Still on the political campaign trail."

While Spitzer concentrated during his first six months on reviving the "economic malaise" of the upstate economy, he said the next six months and the 2008 legislative session will include several New York City priorities.

Spitzer said there has been "a failure to invest in infrastructure" in New York City even as its standing as the center of the financial world is challenged.

He said the state needs to help create growth in the subway system to accommodate a rising population: "That's what will choke us."

For example, he said he recently attended a groundbreaking for expansion of the long delayed Second Avenue subway -- "It was a little embarrassing having our 10th groundbreaking, but we'll get it done."

He also focused on the planned expansion of Stewart International Airport in Newburgh to be a full partner in serving New York City while providing an economic boost upstate.

"As I said earlier, the infrastructure of our subway system -- that is one of the critical issues we are going to be talking about," Spitzer said.

"The infrastructure for transportation, energy, for (affordable) housing in the downstate sectors have been starved for capital recently so we have to confront that."

There was no immediate comment from Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver.